AHOY Hampton Pirates! It’s time to set sails as we approach our founders day! For all of those who are unaware of Hampton University’s voyage let me take you on an adventure through the Hampton Seas of history.
Let’s go back in time to January 30th, 1839 when founder Samuel Chapman Armstrong was born in Maui, Hawaii. Samuel’s father and mother Richard and Clarissa Chapman Armstrong were Protestant missionaries. Both of his parents were sent to Hawaii by the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to set up churches and spread the word of Christianity. While in Hawaii Samuel idolized his father’s path to support education. Mr.Armstrong Sr. became a minister as well as a government servant which later led to him also becoming the superintendent of public institutions. He allowed the students to pay for school through manual labor that granted them the opportunity to learn crucial skills. Samuel resided in Hawaii with his family until he turned 21, and began his own voyage to the states after the death of his father.
Once graduating from Williams College in 1862 he joined the Union Army and served in the American Civil War. Once the war ended Mr.Armstrong wanted to create a space where newly freed slaves could earn a post-secondary education. He partnered with the Freedmen’s Bureau and decided to make his plan into a reality. This led to the creation of what was then known as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute.
“The thing to be done was clear: to train selected Negro youth who should go out and teach and lead their people, first by example, by getting land and homes; to give them not a dollar that they could earn for themselves; to teach respect for labor, to replace stupid drudgery with skilled hands; and to these ends, to build up an industrial system, for the sake not only of self-support and industrial labor but also for the sake of character,”
Those words were passionately spoken by our founder when describing the need for black educators. On April 1st, 1868 Hampton Institute was created with one mission in mind. That mission was to create an institution that supported the creation of black educators. Mr. Armstrong wanted to continue his father’s legacy by providing educational opportunities for the men and women that are at the beginning of their new free lives. In 1922 Hampton Institute became accredited as a college. However, In 1984 Hampton Institute earned their university status and became Hampton University. Although this institution was established in April of 1868, Hampton University celebrates their founder’s day in the month of January to pay homage to the birth of the late great Samuel Chapman Armstrong.
Hampton’s most notable alumni is none other than Booker T Washington. Mr.Washington enrolled into Hampton Institute in 1872 after traveling over 500 miles from Malden, West Virginia. At first glance the 16 year old boy wasn’t appealing to Hampton’s administration. However, after diligently sweeping and dusting a room he was granted admission. After graduating in 1975 from Hampton he went along and became the founder of Tuskegee University in 1881. Mr.Armstrong’s recommendation for Mr.Washington is what started his journey to continue instilling the knowledge he learned from Hampton, into his own institution.
In 1892 Samuel Chapman Armstrong suffered from debilitating paralysis while delivering a lecture in New York. This led to his unfortunate death on May 11th, 1893 at Hampton Institute. Through the many years of Mr. Armstrong’s life he was always committed to making education his main priority. He ensured that black Americans were able to receive an education that’ll help set them in the right direction. Mr. Armstrong created the platform for black educators and has left a legacy that is still being upheld till this day.